Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Life celebrated... God bless you Shannon Perry

Today family and friends buried a dear woman. Believers from the Messianic Jewish community as well as her church at the Vineyard Mt. Comfort celebrated, sang and danced the way this amazing woman would want.

Life lived in hindsight is 20/20. Often we are mired in our present. Confused and lost one day, happy and free another. All who knew Shannon, knew her as the antithesis of this. Shannon was consistent. Jubilant, triumphant, passionate in love for her God, her husband, family and church. Never did I know her to not be upbeat, present and passionate.

Love poured from her pores. As I said today at her service, she was Love, she was a Marvel and she was special. As the Rabbi finished her memorial today we closed with a blessing from God of hope to all of us here on earth:

Numbers 6:24-26
The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.

Thank you Shannon for your example of living life filled with love.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Hilliary and Danny Cofer's Wedding @ the Scottish Rite Cathedral



I had the pleasure shooting a couple "firsts" for this last wedding I did. Click to enjoy the slideshow and read on to learn about a couple firsts. Thank you Hilliary and Danny! God bless you guys. I thoroughly enjoyed your day and thank you for trusting me with it!

The first for me was to shoot on a Thursday. Normally, weddings are Saturday events, but this couple is an outside the dots kind of family and I really love that!
Second, it was my first wedding at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. As you can see from the photos, there's not an ugly place in the entire building from the roof on down to the grounds all around. It's a structure worth bringing extra light into. It is breathtaking.
The last thing that was a first for me was to shoot on the roof of the Cathedral. These days it's hard to find a unique location and normally this isn't either a conceived or location or it's just off limits, but thanks to Danny's mom, I got the inside line and with great assistance from everyone @ the Cathedral, took some really unique photos of Danny and his Groomsmen on the roof!
Yep, that's part of DPA and making diehliciouspix... I like to bring light to your life. You can also become a fan on facebook @ www.facebook.com/diehliciouspix

I hope you enjoy the slide show and stay tuned.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Just another interesting day at my church...


If you've read much of my blog you'll notice occasionally a post that has nothing to do with my business and once again, this is one such post. I do facebook and you can be a friend of mine there and a fan of my business which is www.facebook.com/diehlphotographicarts & www.facebook.com/diehliciouspix but one thing that I love is sharing little stories and I know that part of my gift as a photographer is to capture moments that tell a story.
Now the backfill for this story is pretty simple. The youth are leaving for camp today and as part of the challenge to help pay for it and provide ways for others to go, they needed to raise some funds. $2000 to be exact. If they got$2K, they'd get to buzz their leader's head, Keith. $2500 and they take the eyebrows as well. Well as you can see. They didn't get the brows, (we all breathe a sigh of relief on that one). As it is, this once hirsute man has become fully ready for a hot week of camp.










Then, if that wasn't enough, a small group of women practice dancing for health and worship purposes and put on a performance after this. It was not only lovely, but a wonderful Messianic message through song and dance... How cool is that?!






And that's how it is at my church. One day is never the same as the next. Unlike larger churches that have 7 services in 3 locations simultaneously @ 4 different times, we don't have to follow a formula. We worship from the heart for an undetermined time and then continue within the community to share with each other and then have a good message and then we're done. It is satisfying. If you're dissatisfied. Need more from your Sunday, talk to me or come for a visit. We're the big blue church south of I-70 on Mt. Comfort Road.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

25th Zoobilation Celebration

I had a blast shooting Zoobilation this year. As my first year at it, I realized 3 things. Zoobilation is the biggest party separate of the Indy 500 week. Zoobilation is the largest party I've ever photographed and lastly, I realized that if I can shoot a party of 4,000, what can't I handle???

Enjoy the slideshow and if you'd like to order images or see the other 400+ pix go to this website on Pictage and register and order there. http://pictage.com/1061588

Friday, May 20, 2011

Good news and bad news...

So bad news first because it's serious! Or not, but it's the last day of the world as we know it.
That said, I'd have to say I'm excited for this beautiful day and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I will.
Good news is, is that if today's not the end, I'll be shooting the 25th Zoobilation celebration this year and for that I'm exceptionally happy for that opportunity. So to celebrate, here's some shots from there.



Baby Dedication at the Vineyard, Mt. Comfort

I Love my church. I'll call it Variety even though it's proper name is The Vineyard.
Growing up in a western states Southern Baptist church is nothing like a So.Bap East of the Bible Belt. That said, it was far from a pentecostal and far from fundamentalist church. It's safe to say that where I attend now isn't easily categorized either.
I know speaking about religion on one's blog is a lot like doing so around the possible future inlaws or talking about politics around the dinner table or asking a woman's age, or, well you get the point. But honestly, I'm not ashamed of my beliefs and I promise to never make you uncomfortable about yours.
But let me tell you why I love my church and allow these photos to illustrate why it's really a special place.




My perspective of God, church and the least of these, "religion", has evolved over the past decade of being out of the house, out of college and as I've come into my "own" as a believer.
One thing that I hunger for is amazing worship, and another is divine leadership. At my Vineyard, I get those and within the leadership is my Pastor, Rick Francis, who has a baby dedication, which is a pretty common occurrence at church, but then encourages the church to come up and pray for the little one's.
So, the thing I love about MY church is that it's a highly participatory church. Not a sit in the pew and push play and when the show's over put away the remote and leave. It's kind of like comedy sports, not comedy central, just not that funny....



Some are shy, but they're encouraged to be involved as much as they're comfortable w/o being made uncomfortable. There is much freedom to express one's self there and serving families, people, and our God are all the basis of my Pastor's plan for making this church a Home.
So here's some photos of my "church" in action. We had a few little one's come to be dedicated and then our other Pastor, Mike Robertson preached a message using members of the church. I'm not sure if any of my readers learn by doing more than just reading or listening. This technique is a good way to reinforce an idea. Granted this doesn't happen 100% of the time. Variety could be my church's other name... Variety @t Mt.Comfort starts this Sunday at 10:45.
God Bless!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

2011 Zoobilation Fashion Show @Saks 5th Avenue slideshow

A week later, here's the pix from the most fun fashion show I've shot ever. This was held and hosted by Saks 5th Avenue to show what's hip and new for this years Zoobilation. They rocked, it rocked and the slide show rocks! Enjoy!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

2011 Elegant Vintages Wine Auction to benefit the Indianapolis Zoo

I really am a very lucky individual. I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything on here. It's not to mean I've not been busy. One organization I'm thrilled to recently be involved with is the Indianapolis Zoo.

Many thanks to Michele Zurface of Saks Fifth Avenue for recommending me to Carol Howard, the Special Events Manager @ the Zoo and likewise, thank you so much Carol for hiring me and trusting me with this event that this slideshow is about.

This event, the Elegant Vintages is an annual benefit for the Zoo and this year almost 300 participants came downtown to the Conrad with great joy for a night of celebration and copious wine consumption & fine dining to help raise funds for the Zoo. A great time was had by all and I hope to continue to be able to serve in this capacity for the Zoo for years to come.

Enjoy!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

stop being so religious like that....



This is a poem I interpreted for my art show for the Partnership for Lawrence Arts toast the arts events they have. I reposted it a while ago, but think it's value is more complete with the text so here that is and I'll share my explanation of my interpretation after that because I think the message is so lovely, I hope it helps those that take a moment to think about it, reflect upon it and go from there with it.

Stop Being So Religious... by Hafiz

What
Do sad people have in
Common?

It seems
They have all built a shrine
To the past

And often go there
And do a strange wail and
Worship.

What is the beginning of
Happiness?

It is to stop being
So religious
Like That.


In observing my life, I have discovered that I have a few of these "churches". My past hurts, fears, struggles, drama, shame, etc... One wouldn't think that we make a shrine out of those ugly places, but, I challenge the average person to think about it.
Some people don't honestly have this problem, and to them, I'm saying congratulations! But for those that struggle with feelings of inadequacy, shame, pain, bitterness, unforgiveness, victimization, fear and abandonment, this poem is for you.

We tend to go back to those hurts because if all else fails, we've still got those we can "count on". They won't let you down, you've got something that you can count on. An armpit to go smell. A "friend" if you will, that even though you hate, you don't want to let it go because if you don't have it around, what will you have then?

So I illustrated this with the words and symbols placed over the Basilica in Notre Dame. The keyholes, are the portal to the words, a path to the dark parts of our hearts. The key has a heart at the end. The answer is love and freedom!. When you open a door, what happens? You become free to leave or explore and live beyond your current limitations and hangups!

So, Stop being religious like that....

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Kylie Elizabeth Marie Baird's Memorial



I have never photographed a wake/memorial service for anyone except myself when I've lost my grandparents. I know it seems weird, but for those that have lost someone dear, memories are all we have. As a creator and capturer of memories it only seems appropriate to share and bring to my friends a document to last beyond her life and into the memories of those still here.
I have to say that funerals are often beautiful and this particular day was really a beautiful celebration of a life lived well. Tragically Kylie's friends, family, husband and son lost her inexplicably early and we will all be poorer because of it simply for the fact that this woman was just beginning to know who she was both spiritually and physically.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jake and Kylie a couple years ago at church, then I really got close to them as our church did Life's Healing Choices and then through a home group. Early into home group was when we learned they were expecting and shortly there-after she said that she wanted me to do her maternity pictures. I've never done a maternity & newborn session and so I was curious what it would be like. Naturally, Kylie and Jake are a very photogenic couple so they really made it so much easier because they've got chemistry, she's gorgeous and I know them all well. So as you know, I did the maternity session and they came out so perfectly. Then I got to do Judah's newborn photos. Again, the boy has got the best of them both, I can't wait to do his next photo session. From doing these sessions I got to be with them intimately for more time then the average and so when I learned of her passing, what really was so suffocating to me was that it was only a couple months ago when I took these brilliant, glowing, captivating and just simply gorgeous photos of this woman and somehow, someway, she's taken from us.

My condolences to my friend Jake, her father, Butch and the rest of the Schilling's and Baird's. I'm so grateful for the kind words you've all shared about the photos I've taken of her. I pray that the Lord will bless and keep you that his goodness will shine upon you in the times it feels dark and heavy and that he'll give you peace to weather this time of immediate knowledge of loss. I hope these photos bring you a little comfort and remind you that hundreds of people love her still...

Monday, January 17, 2011




Post on January 17 2011

In my class, for those that know, I'm now teaching an Intro to Photography with Ivy Tech in Franklin. This is the blog post I do and I'll put up some of these over time if I'm feeling excited, geeked or just want to share with my friends what I'm doing and accomplishing in this class.

So where do I begin? Week one is under my belt and the joy and mystery of undertaking a new job/experience and in the case of IVY Tech, a new endeavor. Since I think only my class participants, perhaps the division peeps will look at this, I'm not sure what else to put on here, those that aren't in my class should know that I'm giving the class the opportunity to do a Pic Of The Day, it's not for anything more than a little fun and this weeks POTD challenge was very simple, put your camera in P mode and we'll look at the photos and vote for Wednesday's POTD. My POTD entry is across the street from our campus. Literally just a quick drive by photo.

In addition to the POTD, I'll try to add on fun teachery type things that may help illustrate an idea I covered in class. For example, the photo with the ivy tech computer screen in the foreground demonstrates an image with a fair amount of Noise. I compared Noise to what in film terminology? Anyone, anyone?

Naturally, I didn't take 2 of the 3 photos in here. Many thanks to Samantha and Andrea :)

Monday, January 3, 2011

Tara and Doug's engagement slideshow



At the end of 2009 I shot a wedding, at the end of 2010 I shot an engagement session. I'm curious to see what job I've got to finish 2011!

I had a great time with Tara and Doug, who actually won my engagement session at a silent auction to help raise money for St. Mary's Parish downtown. These two are getting married in Austin in November and I'm keeping my fingers crossed they won't find a better Diehl, I mean deal down there and will want to have me as their personal photographer for a couple days.

Doug lives in the Block building downtown and since I'm "new" to Indy, as in I didn't live here when the Block was a department store, I've had no real reason to visit it. Well, as you will discover in watching, some of the interior shots are from the top floors of the building. Ideally we would've been on the roof, but New Years Eve didn't get us in touch with the appropriate people so we settled for some inside and then, as God so graciously provided, we had a 60 degree evening to shoot in, so it was "just right", as Goldilocks would've said to work outside.

Inside the Block is really fascinating. As I was initially shooting, I got a sense of a sort of mobius/Escher-like feeling. You know how Escher was able to convey in his drawing that there was never an end or a beginning, much like the mobius strip... If you're in the right place the angles and lighting were just right to give it a feeling of constant flow. We did some pictures on the retired escalators there and then headed over to the Capitol and finished up around Monument Circle, stopping in at the Columbia Club to crash a couple weddings which hadn't yet started and then end the shoot at dusk on the Monument.

Thanks Tara and Doug for your support of St. Mary's and me! I had a ball and a blessed New Year to all my friends, family and future clients!

Who's this Brian guy?

My photo
I'm one of the few people from Wyoming in the midwest. Born and bred, by default I'm a cowboy, through life though I guess I've kept the wanderlust and taken it urban. Having lived in 11 states now, I feel safe to say that I've found home in Indy. I'd never have dreamed I'd live here but 5 years later, I have no complaints! I've been a "lifestyle" photographer for quite a while. Cutting my teeth in landscape photography and photojournalism out West I've developed a style that focuses on simplicity, beauty and life lived well.